Giunta Listed As 2017 NFF Campbell Trophy Semifinalist

On Wednesday (Sept. 27), Ashland University senior center Dominic Giunta was listed among 181 semifinalists for the 2017 William V. Campbell Trophy, as announced by The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

The Campbell Trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation.

Giunta has started the first four games at center for Ashland in 2017, and is in his third season as the Eagles' starter at the position. He was an All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honorable mention selection in 2016, and has earned conference academic recognition each of the last three seasons – All-Academic in 2014 and All-Academic Excellence in 2015 and 2016.

Through the 2017 spring semester, Giunta sported a cumulative grade-point average of 3.70.

Giunta is one of only 30 Division II players among the semifinalists.

The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Nov. 1, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 60th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 5, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 28th William V. Campbell Trophy, and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first-team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.